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At Last…

My People!!!! I have missed you! Two months without a blog post is something that hasn’t happened in three years since this blog was erected. A lot has happened, and must say, it’s been a whirlwind.

As you read in my last post, I finally found a job. God has blessed me tremendously with this opportunity. My schedule has changed, obviously, and my body is more tired than usual so, blogging was not at the top of the priority list. I am currently on vacation and wanted to take some time to update you. I have missed writing so much! It’s cathartic, but it takes mental space, which I haven’t had a lot of these days.

Currently, I am in Beaufort, South Carolina. I am vacationing with my dear friend Cami from Florida. We used to work together at 4KIDS of South Florida. During our sojourn to Savannah, we met up with David, who has been deployed for almost two years in the Middle East. He is finally home and was visiting some of his friends in Jacksonville. David and I hadn’t seen each other in two years due to his military commitments and my move back to GA.

I am really thankful for what’s transpiring in my life. There have been times over the past year where I have hated my life. I know hate is a strong word – I was in deep, deep disarray and despair. Being in that kind of a pit is one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced. Not knowing when relief will come, not knowing what to do other than keep doing what you know to do in that moment. It’s hard. Though there were a lot of laments (many I posted on this blog), one thing that never waned was the belief that God was going to make things OK.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,believe that you have received it,
and it will be yours.

Where we get caught up and disappointed is when we are looking for that answer to show up in the moment of our prayers. Not to say that won’t happen sometimes, but it shoudl not be the expectation. The answer shows up when it’s time. See, our timing is not God’s timing. He knows the whole story, not just the current event that we are experiencing. God know the perfect time for the answer to come to fruition. God does not hold out on us. He is, however, orderly and will allow the answer to our prayer be apparent in our lives when the time is right.

Just an example:

I pray for a job last year in July 2015 after I decided that Real Estate was not for me (as a sales agent – I still love the industry). I asked specifically for God to allow me to have a job that utilized my skills, talents, and giftings (inherent and spiritual). I also asked that my next venture would be in a place where I would not get bored, be challenged intellectually, be part of a healthy work environment, and have opportunity grow. I spent days and hours looking for jobs through that summer, winter, and the next spring. When I was finished with my lingering transactions, I was on the verge of depression because I was feeling isolated and I had cut out a lot of the extras in my life, like my gym membership, since I was not working as much with my part time position and I needed to make sure I wasn’t wasting money. I didn’t know when I was going to start working, but I kept praying the same prayer and continued to look for jobs daily. It got really hard around February. I gained some weight and my health was poor. Despite this, I still knew God had answered my prayer and the time had not yet come for me to see the resolve.

Fast forward to April, I received an email for an interview with a company called Trees Atlanta. I had an interview and subsequently got the job. When I started, I knew that my exact prayer had been answered. I am learning a lot and I am getting the opportunity to be stretched in other professional areas like Human Resources and IT. God gave me abundantly more than I could have ever imagined. This new position not only met a need, but it met all of my wants. The timing aspect – my first interview was the last day of work for the person who was occupying the position. Additionally, when this job was posted, the company received over 250 applications, yet mine was one of the top three contenders. That’s God’s favor. Also, the position wasn’t available when I prayed for in In July of 2015; however, in April 2016, the vacancy was announced. Before that time came, God already knew I would be the perfect fit. He already knew what was in the heart of the individual who was leaving and that they would be leaving even before they knew. I may have wanted this job back in July, but there were things that still needed to be done before I could move on to this new season.

My nephew was starting a new school and I was needed to help with that transition. My step dad was going to need help with transportation where my car that God has been so gracious to provide, would be needed to fill in the gap. My mother needed respite to do the things that she loves and God would use me to help with making sure my nephew was picked up from school and taken to events. None of these things could have happened if I started working at the exact moment of my prayer. God saw this before I knew it was going to be, and he made everything work out in their appointed time.

I can’t brag enough on my God. He is amazing! We may get anxious, but those are the times to allow God to do what he does best. As Philippians 4:4-7 tells us, be grateful and praise God! Don’t be anxious, just pray. Let God know what we need and be thankful for what we already have. When we do this, we will have peace that goes beyond any human understanding. That peace is invaluable. That peace is precious. That peace is what gets us through the uncertain times. It takes work to maintain the peace because it requires our mind be continually focused on what God says is true, and being obedient to what God says is right. The struggle is real, but the results are worth the struggle.

I am so grateful. I am sure that my world will continue to be rocked, but I know God is there in the boat to calm the storm when I look to him and not at the circumstances that surround me.